Review: the Iron Witch

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Paperback, US Edition, 290 pages

Published February 8th 2011 by Flux (first published January 20th 2011)

Karen Mahoney brings is into the world of the Fey and of the alchemist in her 2011 debut novel, The Iron Witch. Mahoney is a great world building taking us through her character Donna Underwood, and the experiences and experimentations that happened to her while she was young. The accompanying man candy of a mortal and a half fey make for a great part of the story, and I love all of the characters dialog and interactions with each other.
With an influx of books in the YA genre I loved this retelling of a classic tale of the "Armless Maiden" myth and how Mahoney wove the present day into the story so well.
With the amazing qualities of this debut I cannot wait to read the next book in her series.

Here is a description of the book:

Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.